Nothing Like the Holidays

It's what we need at the holidays, and it's the modest goal of a modest little picture like this--to capture something heartfelt and real.

The troubles are broad, the plot twists giant, and the performances cheery in this carol to ethnic pride in Chicago's traditionally Latino Humboldt Park.

This year's warm and fuzzy Christmas movie. It's a generally winning diversion, thanks mostly to its likeable ensemble cast.

Provides mostly entertaining spectacle.

Is there anyone out there who hasn't seen this movie a dozen times before? Maybe even as recently as last week, since it's basically the same story line as the funnier, if less heartfelt, "Four Christmases."

Take a cue from Guzmán, who serves as a kind of court jester, bouncing in and out of scenes in a one-man quest to bring levity to the occasion. The movie could stand to have more of his Christmas cheer; instead, it's a recast "Family Stone."